Moving the Goalposts

During the twentieth century, football became not only England's definitive national sport but also a lucrative globalised business. How did this change come about? What did it all mean to the players, fans, media, and the country at large?

Moving the Goalposts is a lively history of how English football was transformed in the twentieth century. It paints a picture of a game initially defined by provincial respectability and social conservatism, showing how those values were increasingly challenged – for both good and ill – by elite amateurs, popular transgressors, and the growing influence of money. Nick Fishwick's vivid account is brought alive through the human stories of football in the raw, from the lower league minnows to the national team, from the pompous but dedicated local officials to the players who outsmarted their clubs to seek fame and fortune.

Based on an intensive study of the records of professional clubs great and small, as well as the memoirs and reminiscences of players, managers, and officials, this book will fascinate and enlighten any fan of English football.